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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24357019">Your Fate is Mine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Soul_and_Perfume/pseuds/My_Soul_and_Perfume'>My_Soul_and_Perfume</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Angst, Eventual Romance, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Soulmates, Vampires</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:29:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,190</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24357019</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Soul_and_Perfume/pseuds/My_Soul_and_Perfume</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Steve Rogers was cursed with vampire powers, he accepted his fate as a damned creature and decided to walk the world alone. He lost his best friend, left behind his home, and traveled from town to town, never settling down lest he hurt an unsuspecting stranger. For years, his body weakened and thinned before his very eyes and he became a shell of the man he used to be. One fateful day on a lone dirt road, he meets Tony. The man had a dazzling white smile and lured Steve in with his kindness. But what was this warmth in his heart, this tickle in his throat? It couldn't simply be love. No, it was something much deeper and more problematic than that.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>POTS (18+) Smol Steve Appreciation Bingo, Tony Stark Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Your Fate is Mine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the Smol Steve Appreciation bingo!<br/>Square: Vampires<br/>~*~<br/>Also for the Tony Stark Bingo!<br/>Title: Your Fate is Mine<br/>Name of Participant: My_Soul_and_Perfume<br/>Card Number: 3135<br/>Square Number and Prompt: #13, Free<br/>Rating: Mature<br/>Pairing: Steve/Tony<br/>Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence<br/>Summary: It was on a lone, dirt road that Tony met the stranger, sat on a bench at the train stop.<br/>~*~<br/>Thank you so much to stevesnarkrogers, starksnack, and brokenEisenglas for editing this fic! &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Tony</b>
</p><p>
  <span>It was on a lone, dirt road that Tony met the stranger, sat on a bench at the train stop. The stranger didn’t utter a hello or send an acknowledging glance his way, as he was focused on his sketchpad. He was drawing mottled greys bleeding into inky blacks that seemed to swallow the color of the page whole. Tony had never seen anything like it. Then again, he had never seen anyone like the stranger either. He wore a weathered, beige coat over a white cotton blouse tucked into tattered pants. Clothes that his thin body seemed too large for. Tony could barely see the man’s face, as his collar hid it from view. But Tony noted his ashy blond hair, limp like the dehydrated barley fields across the road. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You got a light?” Tony rasped as he stuck a cigarette in his mouth. He sighed disappointedly when the man gave a quiet “no.” He needed something to soothe his nerves, hands beginning to shake from the strain of travel. “What’d you come so far for?” he asked the man. They were several miles out from the town. There wasn’t another one for another ten miles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a traveler, sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tony. Please.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The stranger nodded. “Steve.” He smiled and held out his hand with charcoal smudged fingertips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe it was the stranger’s grin or his entrancing azure eyes, but something warm bubbled up in Tony’s chest at the sight. He shook Steve’s offered hand and felt the corners of his mouth tugging into a small smile in return.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two men returned to a companionable silence as they waited for the train to arrive.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <b>Steve</b>
</p><p>
  <span>The town didn’t have much to its name, brick-and-mortar businesses were struggling to make their keep. The only building of notable mention was the church, a pasty white with a slanted roof and gorgeous stained glass windows. Even from afar, you could see the candles flickering inside and hear the hymns of the choir. The population of the town was sparse, many locals having moved to more dense areas. But the locals who remained were all hungry for new customers. As Steve and the passengers exited the train, he could hear the businessmen eagerly trying to catch their attention. He could smell juicy meat cooking and see handsome clothes hanging in the shop windows that he longed to buy. Except, Steve had nothing to his name but the sketchpad and satchel he carried, so he couldn’t afford it. He supposed it was a fair exchange for immortality. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as they filed off the train, Tony was easily lured in by a patron trying to sell some mechanized invention. Steve wasted no time slipping away and disappearing into the crowd. He felt guilty when Tony looked behind his shoulder, the smile slipping from his face once he realized that Steve had disappeared. But Steve knew it was for the best. He couldn’t risk feeding on someone—ever. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slipped behind some buildings and started walking east as the sunset bled red across the horizon. It didn’t take long before the first gut-wrenching hunger pang slammed into him. He doubled over as several more followed with a renewed ferocity, leaving him shaky and weak. Wrapping his arms around himself tightly, he eased onto the ground and focused on his breathing. He wasn’t expecting the hunger to hit him so immediately when he got to town. He usually had until sundown to get somewhere safe and hide. So what was different this time? He had passed by several temptations on his journey—men with their shirts unbuttoned to combat the heat, women with their plump, rosy cheeks and vulnerable necks—and he had done alright hiding behind his collar, fading into the shadows. Yet, the moment he arrived in this town, it was like all his restraint had come loose. The hunger snapping its jaws in his stomach made his mouth salivate like that of a starving, stray dog who hadn’t seen a piece of meat in ages. Gritting his teeth, Steve clutched his stomach and prayed for the worst of it to pass quickly. If he stayed in one place for too long… Well, the town would soon realize that they had a monster in their midst. But he couldn’t move just yet when he felt so weak. He was helpless to the pain. Powerless to the hunger. Maybe his fate was to always walk this lonely road alone, never settling down, traveling from place to place. Maybe it was what he deserved in order to atone for his past sins.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve hadn’t realized that he had begun looking at the sky. Maybe he was a little desperate to find a few stars shining early, though the sun hadn’t set yet. Maybe he wanted to make a wish, a wish for someone to end his suffering. Unprompted, he suddenly began to think about Tony, the man who had generously shared his bread with Steve on the train without expecting anything in return. It was an uncanny connection, yet it made Steve feel warm all the same. It made him feel a little more optimistic to know that not all of humanity was corrupt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A dry, heaving cough erupting from his chest pulled Steve’s mind harshly away from his dark musings. He covered his mouth with a hand, gagging with such force that his ribs felt like they would crack. When he pulled his hand away, he saw...flower petals. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh no-</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>BANG!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve bolted upright at the sound of the gunshot. Before he could think twice he started running in the direction of the screams, but he could sense in his gut that something was wrong. Dirt and gravel kicked up beneath his shoes as his feet pounded across the ground. He weaved through buildings and people as fast as he could, coming to a halt at the train station once more. There was a crowd of people just before him standing in the middle of the road—and a pool of blood was spreading beneath their feet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A shaky hand rose to Steve’s face in horror as his knees hit the ground. “Oh, God…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Tony lying there, completely motionless.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Somebody get the doctor! The mayor! The sheriff! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Anybody!”</span>
  </em>
  <span> a man cried, as he sank to his knees beside Tony’s lifeless form. The man’s hands were trembling as they clasped over his mouth, his body rocking back and forth. There was a gun beside him, lying in Tony’s pool of blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve pinched his eyes shut. “Somebody help him!” he screamed, but the crowd’s rallying only drowned him out. He felt that dreaded tickle in his throat again and he cursed himself, these people, this world, this damn man who just </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be his soulmate. A man who Steve could never hope to touch intimately so long as he lived—if he lived. God was so cruel.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that didn’t mean Steve had to be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Out of my way!” With a snarl, he pushed through the crowd to get to Tony and kneeled next to him. Tony’s flesh was gradually losing color, becoming paler by the minute. Hands shaking, Steve covered the wound with his palms and applied pressure. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the blood. It was </span>
  <em>
    <span>everywhere</span>
  </em>
  <span>, as leaking from Tony’s chest and spreading beneath his back, pooling beneath the crowd’s boots, and getting soaked up by the earth. The alluring, yet dreadful crimson made Steve’s teeth itch with hunger. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Monster, monster, monster! </span>
  </em>
  <span>The crowd screamed, picking up sizable stones. For a moment, Steve thought they were all going to aim at him—that maybe they discovered what he was—and he flinched, covering his face with an arm. When the man beside Tony began getting pelted with rocks instead he lowered it, body still shaking in fear. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I- I didn’t mean to,” the man beside him cried. A large rock pelted his brow, causing him to bleed. “It was an accident! I swear! I didn’t realize the gun was loaded! It was only supposed to be a demonstration. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Please</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you have to believe me!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You shouldn’t have been so careless!” Steve snapped. The man flinched back, curling into himself. “The least you can do is get a damn doctor so we can have a fighting chance at saving this man’s life. Now </span>
  <em>
    <span>go</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” The man tripped over himself, running away as fast as he could. </span>
  <em>
    <span>C’mon, Tony, c’mon. Just stay strong for me, okay? Please, just stay strong. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Again, Steve turned his gaze to the sky and wished. He wished for a miracle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly the church bell rang, haunting and emphatic: once, twice, a third time, four, a fifth, and finally six. Each time the bell struck, Tony’s heart beat grew slower and slower beneath Steve’s hands. However, it was on the final ring that Tony’s odds began to turn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m here! Get back, please.” A man with messy brown hair skid to a halt next to Steve. His appearance seemed entirely manic and disheveled, but his intense, green eyes were focused. As he spoke, he tied a tourniquet around Tony’s chest, relieving Steve’s hands of their service. “Help me lift him. We’ll carry him to the inn down there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you the doctor?” Steve asked as he wrapped his hands around Tony’s shoulders. The man grabbed Tony’s legs and they lifted Tony on a count of three.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, sir I’m Bruce. I hope you’re saying your prayers now because I’m not sure this man is gonna have much time to live.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony was cold, pale, and barely breathing. He was hardly making a sound, when he was just so talkative and loud not too long ago. Steve may have barely known him, but he could tell Tony was a kind man. On the train, Tony had shared his bread with Steve as he told his tale. The man had no wife, no kids, no friends, and labored as a blacksmith from time to time if he could find work. There was an easy smile on his face although he seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. Steve wanted to get to know him more. He wanted Tony to </span>
  <em>
    <span>live</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quickly, Steve and Bruce carried Tony down to a residential inn around the corner from the train station. The innkeeper didn’t waste time asking questions and immediately got them into a room. There, they both lowered Tony carefully onto the bed and Bruce ushered him out the door. It was only then that Steve collapsed, losing consciousness. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He came to stripped of his coat, laying on a rickety bed with a cool cloth on his forehead. He heard a creak beside him and turned his head to find the doctor. Bruce smiled and said the best three words Steve had ever heard, “He made it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve sighed with relief as his features relaxed. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you. Thank you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Steve chanted to whatever deity or God that was listening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’ll be bedridden for a couple days and he’ll have a long recovery ahead of him. But I trust that you’ll see him through it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cloth fell onto his lap as he pushed himself up on unsteady arms. “I’m...not sure if I can stick around,” Steve said, breaking eye contact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you are his soulmate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve’s heart stopped. The color drained from his face. “What? Who are you? How do you know that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly, as not to startle Steve, Bruce directed his attention to the ground, pointing at the floor. “I’m a Doctor, Steve. And I only know of one illness where someone coughs those up.” He nudged the pile of petals with the tip of his shoe, frowning. “You’ll only die a slow, painful death if you leave.” When Steve stayed silent, he sighed. “If you feel indecisive, perhaps consider visiting the church. Maybe you’ll find some answers there.” Bruce stood, dusting off his pants. “I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, young man. I know that you’re afraid, but have faith. God wouldn’t have made you soulmates if He knew you weren’t right for each other.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce stood to take his leave as the clock struck midnight. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Steve thought Bruce was a bastard for suggesting that Steve go to the church. If the doctor knew about his disease, then surely he knew what Steve was. A being of the damned. A being who could extend their own life at the expense of others. What right would he have to step foot into a house of God? It didn’t make sense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And yet, he found himself walking there anyway. He had collected his satchel and his coat, and cleaned up the petals in his room. He tossed them out the window, where they landed in a stream. He watched as the water swiftly carried them away, something tainted mixed with something pure. For a moment, it had all seemed very beautiful…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cool breeze wrapped Steve’s heart in a vice, its hold on him unrelenting. The closer he neared the church, the more his mind screamed at him to turn back. To get on the next train. To travel far away so he could leave behind this damned town and his demons. He knew though that, no matter how far he ran, his demons would always chase him. They would fight tooth and nail, and snap their bloody maws at him because they were just as hungry to feast on Steve’s desires as Steve was hungry to belong.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, Steve walked on. The dim candlelight of the church flickered like ghosts in the darkness. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Splash! </span>
  </em>
  <span>His foot landed in a puddle. A single glance was all it took to recognize it as Tony’s blood. It took all his strength to pick up his feet, one after the other, leaving that nightmare behind. His stomach growled and his brain protested. It felt like the hardest battle Steve had ever fought. Somehow, he managed. The moment Steve’s foot passed the church door’s threshold, he felt relief. No hellfire consumed him, nor did a gaping black hole open in the earth to swallow him up. There was only Steve’s breathing, the candles flickering, and the image of Jesus looking down on him from the window up above. The wooden walls groaned as the wind howled outside. It sounded a lot like Tony’s dying breaths when he was on his back and Steve was trying to save him. Was Tony dreaming of him in that moment? Was the dream pleasant or a nightmare? Was he in pain? The quiet solitude offered no answers. Steve sat himself on a pew and prayed.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Hey!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone clapped Steve on the shoulder, causing him to startle. When Steve glanced beside him he couldn’t believe his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bucky?”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Never thought I’d see you in a place like this</span>
  </em>
  <span>, his friend said, easing down onto the pew beside him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What’s got you down?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“B-Bucky…you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>dead</span>
  </em>
  <span>. How are you-” Steve shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. He swallowed past the ache in his throat, trying to force himself to speak. “I know you’re not actually real. It’s all a trick of the mind. But look at you!” He grasped Bucky’s hand, squeezing hard. “You feel so...real.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You seem more prepared to accept that I could be real than accepting that there’s a man out there who loves you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The words stung like a knife to the heart. Bucky reached up to wipe Steve’s tears away.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>God knows I would have been the one to love you first had I survived. But even if I could turn back time, I wouldn’t change a thing. Because I saved your life and you got to meet your soulmate in the end.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve remembered Schmidt lunging at his neck, pinning him down on the cold, hard floor. He remembered Bucky’s outraged cry as he tried to pry Schmidt off of Steve. He remembered a loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>snap</span>
  </em>
  <span> and seeing Bucky’s lifeless eyes as he faded into unconsciousness. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like a wire had snapped inside him, Steve’s body slumped forward and he cried harder than he had ever cried before. It was so painful. It felt like he was grieving all over again, a buildup of a century’s sorrow pouring out of him completely. Steve realized he was so tired of living. Just so, so tired.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Tell me I didn’t die for nothin, huh? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Bucky prompted gently, rubbing Steve’s back. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tell me you’ll give it a chance. I know you think he’ll only hate you, but we both know that if you listen to your heart, those thoughts in your head aren’t true. You don’t have to run anymore, Steve. Your soulmate is just down the road. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>When Steve could take in a full breath again, he promised Bucky that he would try. That he would go to Tony and tell him everything and stop running from his demons. He wanted so badly to have a home. Maybe finally, he could.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The warmth of Bucky’s hand faded away and Steve was alone with the hollow, all-knowing eyes of Jesus once more.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span><strong>Epilogue</strong> </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The night I was shot, I had a dream.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A dream?” Steve tilted his chin up to look at Tony, whose eyes gleamed like the stars. It wasn’t that long ago that Steve was desperately praying to them for a miracle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, a dream. You were there and some strange man dressed in black. I could only see his silhouette because he stood behind you the entire time and the darkness masqueraded his face. But it seemed like the longer he stood there, the weaker you became. And I kept telling you to walk away from him, to come with me so we could walk into the light together. But no matter how loud I screamed, I was ignored.” Tony interlaced their fingers and brought them to his lips, kissing Steve’s ring. “It felt like a nightmare, but somehow I knew it was a prophecy. When I woke up and saw you again, I knew that something had changed. Your eyes were brighter and you were standing taller. You appeared so different from the moment I first saw you with your gaze downcast and your voice barely above a whisper. When you told me that we were soulmates everything suddenly made sense. Because from the first moment I saw you, it felt like coming home.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve turned in Tony’s lap, unlacing their fingers to reach up and cup his cheeks. Slowly, sensually, he kissed Tony in lieu of a thousand thank you’s. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Thank you for finding me. Thank you for accepting me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for showing me kindness. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Their bodies gradually became more heated as they clutched at each other for purchase. Tony made love to him then, taking his time like a man who wanted to watch something come apart beneath his hands brick by brick. And all Steve could think as Tony eased him onto his length, holding him as he trembled and moaned, was how beautiful it was that their lives were now intertwined. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much to everyone on discord for all the motivation and praise! You're all gems &lt;3 </p><p>Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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